Still thinking of gifts for groups of friends for your upcoming reunions? Want to buy, give and help at the same time? We have a few suggestions!
- IBON planner
The IBON 2018 Planner (with more useful information than any other planner out there) is available for less than P200 at the IBON Bookshop at #114 Timog Avenue and at selected National Book Store and Powerbooks outlets in Metro Manila.
The opening page of the planner would explain why the alternative Lumad schools should be supported.
Power tip: Why not buy at the IBON bookstore on Timog Avenue and check out IBON’s book titles? Also, IBON Foundation promised to planner buyers ‘the more you buy, the bigger the discount.’
2. Sinirangan Coffee
Who would not want to receive coffee any time of the year?
While brewing coffee is arguably a healthier alternative to the instant or three-in-one variants, some found it more expensive. However, coffee-lovers still find the brewed tastier and more aromatic—a truly delightful coffee experience.
Sinirangan Coffee started out as a disaster response program for Typhoon Yolanda-stricken farmers in Eastern Samar. Sinirangan Coffee’s blend is their own concoction, from beans bought from various parts of the country and roasted before in Eastern Samar to generate jobs for coconut farmers who lost their livelihood and now in Metro Manila to continue the send Eastern Samar students in need to high school or college. The scholarship program commenced on June 2015. To bolster production, the Sinirangan Coffee Shop in Baclaran was established in November 2014.
They sell 250-gram robusta coffee beans or ground coffee packs for P150 and 500 grams for P250 and 250-gram arabica coffee packs for P250 and 500 grams for P500.
You may contact Sinirangan Coffee Shop at The Carillon at 0927-8489201 or 09461529903, check their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sinirangancoffee/ or visit and check out their other products (drinks, pasta, pastries, etc.) inside the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran.
3. Political prisoners’ mugs
Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) came out with mugs designed with portraits of political prisoners. The portraits were part of the 2015 exhibit “Portrayal: Faces for Freedom” that showcased more than 50 paintings, digital art, and sketches of political prisoners in the Philippines to raise funds for the needs of political prisoners.
All proceeds go to the daily needs of political prisoners such as toiletries, drinking water 9that they have to pay for), and to augment the poor and unhealthy food rations in Philippine jails among others. Karapatan noted there are currently 449 political prisoners in the country.
The mugs sell for P150 each and are available at Sinirangan Coffee Shop in Baclaran. Interested parties may also contact SELDA through their Facebook account.
4. Purses and pouches/wristlets
Move Mountains for Franco fundraising campaign sells various useful merchandise for the kidney transplant of public health worker Franco Bonifacio. Franco sells quaint purses with inspirational words or Bible verses to raise funds for his operation.
Small coin purses that can hold cards the size of your ATM cards are priced at P150 pesos each (4.5″ x 3.5″) and pouches that can hold your smartphones at P200 pesos (4.5″ x 8″). Each item are individually packed in acetate box and products are made of synthetic leather.
Contact Franco through his Facebook account.
5. Igpaw and Walang Hanggan music album by Musikangbayan
The music album by Musikangbayan was launched in 2015 and the proceeds of its launch were all given to the Lumads. The album has songs from Bayang Barrios, Tubaw, Jess Santiago, Danny Fabella, et al. Copies of the album, that has 12 original songs, are still available.
The 8th al
bum by Musikangbayan is “WALANG HANGGAN”, launched in 2016. It was produced by the group and by Iglesia Filipina Independiente in remembrance of Bishop Alberto Ramento, a known supporter of the struggle of Hacienda Luisita farmers and farm workers for the distribution of the land who became a victim of extrajudicial killing after the Hacienda Luisita strike in 2004.
For orders, contact danfabella@yahoo.com.ph.
6. Healthy organic red rice
Giving healthy food means you care!
In 2015, Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang-Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) introduced packs of healthy organic red rice, the product of their collective farming and ‘bungkalan’ (land cultivation) campaign in Hacienda Luisita to prevent the re-concentration of farmer-beneficiaries’ hard-fought land to the rich few and the idling away of land that were exclusively used for sugarcane planting for decades.
To those who switched to the red rice alternative, they weighed that red rice may be more expensive than white rice, but it is a lot healthier. Also, AMBALA’s red rice is cheaper than those sold in the commercial markets.
Contact Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura on Facebook to inquire availability.
